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The stars glimmered overhead like a sea of gems, set in a vast primordial of ink. When they looked up at it, their eyes, unfocused, unable to comprehend the dizzying dark, saw multicolored static that resolved to an even, grainy tone commonly known as "black", and then they saw black, and it faded into noise again, perhaps the cosmic microwave background, or just the unresolved photons of distant solar masses. From an observation balcony off the bare edge of the tower, it was easier than almost anywhere else in the world to see the stars and galaxies above with the naked eye, the milky way's white trail crossing across the night sky like a silver blade, cleaving it in two.
There wasn't much room on the balcony - it wasn't really intended for long term habitation, after all - but there was enough room that Jade and Roxy could curl up in a pillow and blanket nest, besocked feet touching just barely, with perhaps a molecule of two or air between them, a thick comforter thrown over both laps to provide ample warmth. This high up, air had a tendency to be a hair thinner than normal (hence the pumps hidden throughout the tower walls, for Jade, who slept at the tippity top), and a great deal colder, so all the cushioning from the thick, stiff walls and the stone-like flooring and the buffeting wind was greatly appreciated. A mixture of trapped body heat and the gentle warmth thrumming through the walls behind them filtered through two layers of pillows provided all the comfort needed.
Each constellation twinkled with just enough force and veracity to outline its shape, familiar figures to individuals trained in western culture's many decades of star-seeking. If one looked close and imagined, they might even be able to see the little lines that you'd see in every picture book, pointing out the exact arrangement of stars. That one's Orion, of course, which you can tell by his belt. And there's always the Big Dipper, infinitely recognizable from almost any orientation. And one or two of the Zodiacs, they were up there somewhere too, or maybe a couple more than that. It seemed like every star in the sky was accessible from this access point, the whole heavens their planetarium.
Jade leaned back quietly, letting her feet slide forward until, trapped in their blanket cocoon, they barely dangled off the edge of the balcony, in between the rungs of the railing. Roxy's foot slid along until it was at about knee-height, or knee-length in this instance, and then Roxy leaned back and did the same, wiggling her toes quietly while looking up and out into the infinite abyssal horizon above. There wasn't a cloud in sight for miles, the sky absolutely clear, the moon shining prodigiously overhead, a luminescent sphere dancing its eternal dance along its orbit, gently decaying. In perhaps millions, maybe billions of years, it might hit the Earth. Or maybe it wouldn't. Everything was up in the air all the time forever and always.
"Hey, Jade?" Roxy asked, not looking away from the night sky. There was no light pollution here, no light pollution for dozens if not hundreds of miles, really, presenting the perfect view of astral phenomena with. A meteorite streaked across the sky, in the bare distance, before vanishing from view. Neither one of the two believed much in making wishes on fallen stars, but that might not have stopped one of them.
"Yeah?" Jade asked, turning her head to glance at Roxy for a moment, and then turning her head back towards the night sky above them.
"I'm glad we're friends." Roxy said, the corners of her lips turning upwards.
Jade broke out into a soft grin. "Yeah, me too."